Fellowship Graduation

This weekend was the graduation for the International Family Medicine Fellowship, the culmination of this year of training.

It was a bittersweet time for Julie and me as we said goodbye to our friends the McQuillen's and the Epperly's. We cherished the five months we spent living down the hall from them in Wichita while we prepared to go overseas. Then we said goodbye to them five months ago, as we traveled to different parts of Africa. While we have been in Kenya at Tenwek Hospital, they have been at Karanda Mission Hospital in Zimbabwe. All four are physicians and parents. It sounds like they had a rich time, full of struggles of course. But the people we encountered this weekend were different than the friends that we left five months ago. They have obviously been challenged and changed by the power of Christ. It was wonderful to hear their stories through tear-filled eyes, and to look at each other's pictures.


The graduation was primarily for the Via Christi Family Medicine Residency, so we were able to see the awards given to residents and faculty. Dr. Todd Stephens gave a wonderful presentation about the fellowship including a slideshow of all 5 guys and their experiences abroad. He was also kind to recognize the wives and their important role in the life overseas.

Drs. Jack Kline and Rick Moberly, who also worked in Zimbabwe, were not able to be there and we really missed seeing them. All of them will reunite in rural Iowa where they are setting up practice. They will continue the work they started at Karanda by traveling back to Karanda for three months at a time on a rotating basis.

We are ready to start the next chapter in our lives as well. We will start on faculty at the Family Medicine Residency at Cox Hospital in Springfield, Missouri on July 1.

Some of the lessons we learned from this year were obvious and immediate, but I think it will take a while -- months or even years -- before we fully understand and can fully appreciate some of our experiences. When we look back on the wedding vows we made over four years ago, this time has definitely been our most "for poorer" and "for worse". But through God's grace, we made it, and we have certainly grown closer together as a couple, and a family.